These anti-gay ads are part of the battle attacking the civil rights of Colorado gays.

With pictures of a drag nun and faux Jesus bearing a cross from a Pride Parade, a narrator intones, "THESE people say you're forcing your values on them. Who is forcing WHOM? Do want to stop this in Colorado? Yes we do! Vote yes on 2."

Aired in 1992, these commercials were for many the first they learned about gays on TV. It utilized video footage from the infamous "Gay Agenda" movie created by the religious right. The tape "censors" sections of scantily-clad men on gay pride parade floats and interviews several "experts" who produce demonizing misinformation about the gay community.

Despite existing municipal protection laws in Denver, Aspen and Boulder, an increasingly strong Religious Right-inspired a vote known as Amendment 2. That amendment to the Colorado State Constitution passed, surprising many, and was to prevent cities towns and counties from passing laws protecting gay and lesbian rights.

The amendment never went into effect, as it was immediately challenged in court by the case Romer vs. Evans. The case went all the way to the US Supreme Court and, in May 1996, the court knocked down Amendment 2 in a landmark 6-to-3 decision.

Andrea James , Los Angeles, CA
Polemicists love using transgendered people as human piñatas in political debates!